IPA-ISIA partnership builds accounting skills in the Pacific

The IPA Group is committed to capacity building in the Pacific and, in May 2022, formed a strategic partnership with ISIA to support the delivery of a local education and qualification program.

The first cohort from the program graduated with a Professional Diploma in Accounting in September 2023. Institute of Public Accountants Chair and President Julie Williams, and Director New Markets and Alliances Catherine Cleary were in Honiara for the ceremony.

“I was incredibly proud to see these first students graduate,” Williams said. “This milestone moment is the culmination of more than three years we’ve spent developing the partnership and the program.”

l–r: ISIA CEO Pamela Alamu, IPA Chair and President Julie Williams, Director New Markets and Alliances Catherine Cleary

The Diploma

In collaboration with the Melbourne-based Monarch Institute, ISIA and IPA jointly developed and delivered the Professional Diploma in Accounting program.

Four modules focus on financial reporting, budgets, management accounting, financial performance, internal controls, economics, taxation and law. The tax and law module developed by ISIA is tailored to the Solomon Islands Income Tax Act and other local tax regimes.

“The program equips bookkeepers and accounting technicians with relevant knowledge and technical skills aligned to internationally recognised standards, consistent with ISIA’s objective of raising the standards of the local accounting profession,” Williams said.

The first cohort of 39 students completed the modules with a combination of online learning and face to face support, and scholarships funded by the Australian Aid Program through the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Regional development

This program significantly contributes to the development of local accountants, and to professionalisation of the sector for those with years of experience but no qualification.

“Successful candidates under this program will be certified as practising bookkeepers and accounting technicians. ISIA also intends to use this qualification to certify tax agents in the future, once the Tax Administration Bill is passed by Parliament,” Cleary said.

ISIA CEO Pamela Alamu (centre) took IPA Chair and President Julie Williams (left), and Director New Markets and Alliances Catherine Cleary to visit a village 40km from Honiara, where local industry includes basket weaving, skirt making and carving wooden products.

Co-designing a genuine capacity-building education program is a cornerstone of the partnership, as it supports the local accounting profession’s and ISIA’s self-sufficiency.

“This underpins economic health and goes to the heart of the global accounting professions’ ethos to operate in the public interest,” Cleary said.

“We’re proud to play a role in the development of this model, and believe it will be of interest to other Pacific Island countries.”

Building the future

The second cohort of more than 80 students commenced in July 2023, and any practising accountant who applies for registration as a tax agent will be required to successfully complete the diploma.

This will ensure that ISIA-certified professionals are technically competent, with the appropriate knowledge and skills required to offer bookkeeping and taxation services to the public.

“On an ongoing basis, internationally recognised standards of accounting and auditing in Solomon Islands will strengthen the local accounting profession, increasing foreign investors’ confidence in the financial reporting system of the country,” Williams said.

“They will also strengthen public financial management of government resources – a critical factor for sound economic development of an emerging economy.”